Door County committee approves pay raises for county employees

Pay raises for Door County employees of about 3 percent were approved for 2019 by the Door County Board's Administrative Committee through a resolution Tuesday. The raises will go before the Door County Board for adoption next week.

After looking at several pages of numbers, Committee Member John Neinas asked Door County Administrator Ken Pabich, “So a gentleman comes up to me on the street and asks, 'How big a raise did you give county employees?' Give me an answer I can tell him.”

“I'd say between 3 and 4 percent,” Pabich said. “In some cases it would be higher, but I'm averaging throughout the organization.”

Some employees could get up to an additional 2.5 percent pay increase under the merit pay provisions of the county's master compensation plan, which was adopted in 2015 following a consultant study of pay for jobs in Door and other counties as well as jobs in private and nonprofit organizations in Northeast Wisconsin.

The average wage for a similar jobs performed by county employees was established as the mid-point of the county's compensation plan. Those earning below the average would see yearly increases to reach the average. Those earning more than the average were to receive smaller increases or no raises if their pay exceeded 115 percent of the average.

Workers deemed “exceptional” could receive an additional 2.5 percent wage hike next year. “Highly effective” employees could get a 2.25 percent merit increase while those performing their work “above requirements” could get a 2 percent merit raise.

Pabich said the pay plan hasn't been updated in the past three years. “We tried to push something through last year,” he said. “We have to do something this year.”